and tomorrow we'll have a special good evening, americans. and welcome to "the ed show" from new york. 12 days until the 2012 election. mitt romney can run, but he can't hide from his support for richard mourdock. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> our destiny is not written for us, it's written by us and we're going to write that next chapter together. that's why i'm asking for your vote in this election. >> florida, colorado, iowa, ohio, virginia. in los angeles with jay leno. >> the main cure is to make sure you vote. >> in nevada with katy perry. >> you know, i got my poll outfit sorted, okay? >> the president is emptying the tank for the final push. >> you may notice that my voice sounds just a little hoarse. >> as mitt romney literally runs

away from questions about mourdock's rape remarks. tonight, senator barbara boxer on the romney failure to lead. "the daily beast's" michael tomasky on the president's momentum and today's big endorsement. plus another plutocrat is shaking down employees to vote for romney. and congressman elijah cummings on the right wing effort to true the vote by intimidating minority voters. good to have you with us tonight, folks. the latest comments about rape have the republican party scrambling and mitt romney going silent. senate candidate richard mourdock out of indiana caused unwanted intention when he said pregnancies results from rape are a gift from god. the story is out there in the popular culture. comedian tina fey took on mourdock's comments last night. >> i wish we could have an honest and respectful dialogue about these complicated issues,

but it seems like we can't right now. and if i have to listen to one more gray-faced man with a $2 haircut explain to me what rape is, i'm going to lose my mind. >> the comments were also a topic of conversation on the "tonight show with jay leno" where the guest was the president of the united states. >> i don't know how these guys come up with these ideas. let me make a very simple proposition. rape is rape. it is a crime. the second thing this underscores, though, is this is exactly why you don't want a bunch of politicians, mostly male, making decisions about women's health care decisions. >> president obama has a consistent message on this topic. when congressman todd akin made his legitimate rape comments back in august, the president denounced them in a similar way. >> let me first of all say the views expressed were offensive.

rape is rape. and the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we're talking about doesn't make sense to the american people. and certainly doesn't make sense to me. >> consistency and trust are key messages in the closing days of the 2012 election. president obama wants people to know that they can believe what he says, unlike his opponent. >> you want to know that whoever's in the oval office is going to fight for you. you want to know that they're not just going to take the politically expedient path. and you know what? you know me. you know i say what i mean and i mean what i say. >> you don't need to wonder where president obama stands on the akin or mourdock comments. the same cannot be said for mitt romney. romney said he still supports

the senate candidate, and only says he disagrees with mourdock's position. today reporters asked romney to elaborate. >> all right. i'll come around through there. >> governor, you wish senator mourdock would pull that ad? >> which way are we going? >> governor, do you disavow. >> 10 bucks, we'll make it even, all right? >> mourdock's comments about -- >> now, compare romney's reaction today to his reaction immediately after todd akin's comments back in august. >> his comments about rape were deeply offensive. and i can't defend what he said. i can't defend him. >> so romney has denounced these comments before, but now i guess it's just too close to the election, right? the republican party is providing cover for their nominee. party leaders say the comments are not important.

>> what he said was kind of crazy, but having said that, this election for president is not about that. >> it's the word "but" that's the problem. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell also called it an election season distraction. we're at the end of an election season here and i understand each side is looking to make hay out of every comment. you really think so, senator? senator john mccain in trouble initially said mourdock needed to apologize for the comments although this morning mccain's spokesman said, sent out a statement saying "senator mccain is glad mr. mourdock apologized to the people of indiana and clarified his previous statement." for some reason mccain thinks mourdock apologized though he did the opposite. mourdock told reporters, "i spoke from my heart. for speaking from my heart, for speaking from the deepest level of my faith. i cannot apologize." they're all over the place, aren't they? running mate paul ryan, well, he's also running for cover. he was supposed to participate

in a town hall tonight with conservative activist ralph reed. the event was abruptly canceled with very little notice. conservative media also did the best it could today to make the story go away. fox news only devoted 2 minutes and 12 seconds to mourdock's comments yesterday. republicans want this story to disappear because mitt romney cannot afford to lose women voters. a new ad by the obama campaign makes this very clear. >> which do you believe? what mitt romney's tv ads say about women, or what mitt romney, himself, says? >> do i believe supreme court should overturn roe v. wade? yes. and it would be my preference that they reverse roe v. wade. hopefully reverse roe v. wade. overturn roe v. wade. planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. >> no matter what mitt romney's ads say, we know what he'll do. >> in an interview with "rolling stone" magazine president obama was asked if he believes mitt romney will try and undo roe v.

wade. "i don't think there's any doubt," the president said. "we know the current supreme court has four members who would overturn roe v. wade. all it takes is one more for that to happen." the longer mitt romney stays silent on this issue the worse he looks. this is an issue of leadership and character which i think he lacks. at least richard mourdock, as much as i disagree with him, has the guts to stand up and say what he believes and then stand by it. the same can never be said for mitt romney. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question. who do you trust when it comes to women's issues? text "a" for president obama, text "b" for mitt romney to 622639. always go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. leave a comment. we appreciate that. we'll bring you the results later on in the program. joining me tonight, senator barbara boxer of california. senator, great to have you with us on this very important issue. and this issue continues to steam roll across the country.

the latest numbers out show in the swing states that 39% of women in the swing states now say that abortion is the number one issue. senator, what does this mean? >> well, let me just say right now, this is the moment of truth for mitt romney and i think all of america, men and women, will see, all of us will see, that he's been tap dancing around all of this for too long. he is not on the side of women. it went back to the platform, ed. you discussed it many times. the republican platform said we're going to make abortion criminal and we're not going to protect women who are raped or the victims of incest. and mitt romney never lifted one finger to change it. then he picked paul ryan. paul ryan who said, rape is a method of conception. can you imagine? then he had akin, so he spoke out against akin, but now he's cut a commercial for mourdock

who somehow got god into a rape situation. this is the moment of truth. to you remember when i was talking about a war against women last year? >> i do. >> and people said, well, what is that about? and i laid it out. and now i think it is coming to fruition where everyone sees it. and i think mitt romney is in deep trouble. he said he'd be delighted if he had legislation to overturn roe v. wade. he wants to get rid of planned parenthood. he doesn't get it. he doesn't even know if he'd sign an equal pay act. >> do you -- senator, do you think that we need to hear more from mitt romney on the comment of rape, and is it a gift from god? >> you know what? i've heard enough from mitt romney. he tries to be multiple choice. ed, you can't be multiple choice. a long time ago he said he was for a woman's right to choose. then he's against it.

now he accepts this platform that makes women criminals and doctors criminals. and he is backing mourdock at this point and he picked paul ryan. let's not forget, paul ryan who wanted to make forms of birth control illegal. >> yeah. >> so i don't need to hear more from him, ed. i know this guy has nothing in his heart that indicates to me he stands with women. so whatever he says you can't believe it anyway. >> senator -- >> you know, you can't just believe it. >> exactly. do you agree with president obama that roe v. wade is at stake in this election? >> without a doubt. there's no question about it. it is hanging by a thread. and that's a whole issue that people don't really think about. you know, it's -- there's so many issues out there. but who picks the next supreme court justices, that is so important. and when you have a republican nominee who didn't lift a finger to change the republican

platform, that says abortion will be criminal, and no exception for rape, no exception for incest. look, i want to just say one thing about the issue of rape. i don't know if you saw congresswoman gwen moore. she was on one of the shows. i believe it was -- i don't remember whose it was. it was on msnbc. i think it was chris. she talked about how she was a victim of rape and how you have post traumatic stress and it scars you for life. rape is a heinous crime. in many states, ed, half the states, there's in statute of limitations so 10, 20, 30 years later they find dna, they can prosecute the perpetrator. we are talking about a serious crime. instead of being on the side of the women, mitt romney's all over the place and he stands with the men, if i could just say, in the congress who want to do away with women's rights and the right of women to privacy and to their health.

and they don't trust women. and, you know, i believe certainly everyone has a right to their religion and they should see this issue every way that they want to. i don't care -- >> but to legislate, the morality of it is a different thing. no question. >> don't put it on everybody else. let them have the right. with their god and their family and their doctor to make their decision. and that's why we see mitt romney on the wrong side here. he doesn't trust women. >> senator barbara boxer of let them have the right. with their god and their family and their doctor to make their decision. and that's why we see mitt romney on the wrong side here. he doesn't trust women. >> senator barbara boxer of california. great to have you on "the ed show." remember to answer the question at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts on twitter and facebook.

coming up, colin powell endorsed president obama today and had strong words for mitt romney. michael tomasky joins me for that discussion. stay with us. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. keys, keys, keys, keys, keys. ♪ well, he's not very handsome ♪ to look at [ sighs ] ♪ oh, he's shaggy ♪ and he eats like a hog [ male announcer ] the volkswagen jetta. available with advanced keyless technology. control everything from your pocket, purse, or wherever. that's the power of german engineering. ♪ that dirty, old egg-suckin' dog ♪

coming up, general colin powell doesn't mince words when it comes to his thoughts on mitt romney. hear why he's endorsing president obama again. then republicans have accepted richard mourdock's non-apology for his comments about rape, but will the voters? keli goff and ron christie join me. mitt romney is running for his strength on his business record, but his record of outsourcing is and should be very troubling to american workers. we'll list all the details when it comes to outsourcing and what his career has really been about. share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter using #edshow. we're right back. copd makes it hard to breathe, but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications,

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hello, iowa. hello, colorado. hello, nevada. how's it going, tampa? hello, virginia. >> welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. those are some of the places president obama has been campaigning over the past 48 hours. the perception that mitt romney had some kind of momentum has simply dissipated. today former secretary of state colin powell joined the obama bandwagon again endorsing the president for a second term. powell was clear and cutting in his opinion of mitt romney. >> not only am i uncomfortable with what governor romney is proposing for his economic plan, i have concerns about his using foreign policy. the governor who is speaking on monday night at the debate was

saying things that were quite different than what he said earlier, so i'm not quite sure which governor romney we would be getting with respect to foreign policy. one day he has a certain strong view about staying in afghanistan, but then on monday night he agrees with the withdrawal. same thing in iraq. and almost every issue that was discussed on monday night, governor romney agreed with the president with some nuances. but this is quite a different set of foreign policy views than he had earlier in the campaign. and my concern, which i've expressed previously in a public way, is that sometimes i don't sense that he has thought through these issues as thoroughly as he should have and he gets advice from his campaign staff that he then has to adjust or modify as he goes along. i think there are some very, very strong neoconservative views that are presented by the governor that i have some trouble with. >> has not thought through the issues. that's kind of an academic way of calling a guy an empty suit,

isn't it? president obama acknowledged powell's endorsement today in virginia. >> i was proud and humbled to learn that we have colin powell's support in this campaign. i'm grateful to him for his lifetime of service to this country, both as a soldier and as a diplomat, and every brave american who wears this uniform. >> colin powell said mitt romney is all over the map. president obama said the same thing in a slightly different way in an interview with "rolling stone" magazine. upon hearing the "rolling stone" editor's 6-year-old daughter supports the president, president obama grinned and said "you know, kids have good instincts. they look at the other guy and say, well, that's a bull blanker. i can tell." today a new nbc/marist poll has president obama up by three in the state of nevada. it is a tied game so far in colorado. but the real clear politics average of ohio continues to give president obama a durable lead. if the election were held today, president obama has a clear electoral college advantage and

he would prevail. today president obama voted in chicago, illinois. it's the first time a sitting president has voted early. i am joined tonight by michael tomasky, he is special correspondent for "newsweek" and "the daily beast." michael, good to have you with us tonight. i want to address this so-called momentum that the romney campaign has. in fact, i think they've actually done a pretty good job, fairly effective job of feeding the narrative that there is some kind of role taking place for them. but was it a false narrative, and do you think it's a false narrative? >> yeah, i think it's a lot of spin, ed. and i wrote this the other day and others have written it since as well. there's no question that romney had momentum coming out of the first debate and there's no question that that momentum lasted for a pretty long time. but that momentum also hit a wall over the course of the past week, over the course of the last several days, and you could see that in particularly in state polls that came out that

showed that romney had closed gaps in some places, but those gaps weren't closing anymore. in fact, were maybe re-widening in some cases. but the romney campaign, and i don't blame them for this in a way, it's their job, it's the media's job to call you-know-what on it. >> sure. >> but the romney campaign over the last few days have been saying, we have it, we've got it in bag, on background, 305 electoral votes. you know, ohio, no, don't believe those public polls, we have internals, so on and so forth. they're really trying to spin the press to say our momentum is still going and we're ahead. i don't think it's true. >> the most notable endorsement, i think so far, is colin powell. and he just didn't simply oppose romney on foreign aid or domestic policy. he supports the president. here it is. >> i'm more comfortable with president obama and his administration when it comes to issues like what are we going to do about climate, what are we going to do about immigration, what are we going to do about education?

lots of things like that. i don't want to see the obama care plan thrown off the table. >> obama care. that's all the conservatives talk about. how much of an impact does powell's endorsement going to have to help the president, you think? >> i think powell has some impact. you know, he's being dismissed inside the beltway today. this endorsement is being dismissed inside the beltway because it's not really news. it would only have been news if powell had endorsed romney. now, i grant that. if powell had switched sides, and endorsed mitt romney, that would have been a much bigger story. but that doesn't mean it doesn't count for anything outside the beltway. >> sure. >> most americans, still, regard colin powell pretty well, pretty highly. if you're an undecided voter at this point and you're not a, you know, highly political person, and you're paying attention to late signals, colin powell's endorsement matters. it sits on this side of the scale as some kind of factor. there's no question about it.

>> it must be deemed as a big deal by the president and the staff because the president mentioned it today. now, after losing the first debate, has president obama been doing an effective job of dismantling romney's contradictions? i mean, there's a lot of them out there, but he just -- i mean, that is his stump speech right now, who is the real mitt romney? >> yeah. and i think it's the right stump speech to have. and i think, you know, it also needs to say that, you know, there's this old romney who took these old positions, you know, pro-choice and so forth, as senator boxer mentioned in the previous segment. there's this romney who campaigned against newt gingrich and rick santorum. now there's this romney who appeared since october 3rded. who is this guy? what is his core? and the important question, to me, ed, what is he actually going to do as president? >> sure. >> which romney is going to be sitting in that oval office? and i think the romney that's going to be sitting in the oval office is the romney who made the promises to the right wing over the course of the last 18 months. that's the deal that i think obama has to sell. >> this is president obama in ohio. we're looking live at the president getting off air force

one. ohio, he's spending a lot of time in ohio, and doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that whoever wins ohio is probably going to win the presidency. which i find curious that paul ryan is in alabama and also in atlanta, georgia. maybe he doesn't do ohio any favors campaigning there for the romney campaign because of his budget and their stance on the automobile loan. has the president focused on the right places? i mean, it's very intense. >> i think he is focused on the right places. you know, he doesn't actually even need ohio in the same way that romney does. obama can get to 272, 275 without ohio, but if he has ohio, boy, he's pretty well got it locked. because then if he has ohio he only needs one of iowa, colorado, nevada. and he's ahead in iowa and nevada and tied in colorado. so nailing down ohio would be a big, big thing for him. >> michael tomasky, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. >> pleasure. a class act.

that's how one republican senate candidate describes richard mourdock. next, ron christie and keli goff weigh in on that and much more about republican brand. later, a right wing group, voter intimidation, is going to put a million poll watchers around the country on election day. congressman elijah cummings is outraged. he's written about. he's with us tonight. stay tuned.

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i don't think any politician in washington, most of whom are male, should be making health care decisions for women. women can make those decisions themselves. >> and we are back. that was president obama today. mitt romney is literally trying to run away from questions about richard mourdock. mourdock said, at a debate earlier this week, that pregnancies resulting from rape are a gift from god. now mourdock's fellow republican candidates are having to answer those kinds of questions about those comments on the campaign trail. ohio senate candidate josh mandle was asked yesterday to weigh in on mourdock's remarks. mandle refused to take a position on the matter. today it was a different story, he went on a conservative radio talk show, and falsely claimed the indiana candidate has apologized for his comments.

>> he's a gentleman. he's a class act. he's a thoughtful guy. he'll make a great united states senator. i think yesterday he apologized for his comments and i think he was right in apologizing for them. >> let's turn to keli goff tonight, political correspondent for theroot.com and also with us tonight, republican strategist ron christie. great to have both of you with us. ron, let me ask you first. is richard mourdock an asset for the republican party? >> on a national level, no, i don't think he is. politics is about addition, rather than subtraction. i don't agree with what he said. i'm pro-life. i thought what he said was wrong. i think he should apologize. i think he should be very outspoken and say, what i said was wrong. governor romney has been very consistent. he said, i don't agree with his comments. i don't believe in his comments, but yet and still that's not about this race. >> keli? >> well, the problem with that,

though, you can't really have it both ways. we all know the problem for politicians it's not when they make a mistake, it's often the cover-up or the after-the-fact. i think the problem governor romney, how do you say you don't agree with something but not revoke an endorsement and continue to support someone? it plays into the problematic narrative about governor romney, etch a sketch, you never know where he stands, right? >> it's important to point out, ron, that, you know, when akin said these comments governor romney said he should step out. why isn't he saying that now with mr. mourdock? >> that's for governor romney to make that decision. >> he's not consistent. >> no. >> he's inconsistent. >> i am consistent. >> yeah. >> i think todd akin should have bowed out of that race, i think he should not be our candidate. i don't like what mourdock said. i think that's wrong. i think that is absolutely the not correct position to take. >> aren't we getting two different answers from romney on this? >> no, we're not. now, look, i think what akin said was so reprehensible and so wrong, and, again, if you're pro-life and believe this is part of god's will, i can see from a pro-life perspective from being pro-life where he's coming from. i just don't agree with that.

>> do you think there's two different reactions as far as akin and mourdock when it comes to romney? >> of course. we know what's driving the two different reactions. the election is close and they can't pull another candidate together this quickly. they're kind of treading water and, you know, hoping that they can just sort of get through election day with with this not being an albatross that sinks their ship. >> he's not saying -- he won't answer reporters' questions on the campaign trail today. i mean, he will not defend the party platform. >> now, ed, come on. this president, i can't even remember the last time the president of the united states has actually had a live press conference with the white house press corps. he has ducked the press corps. he's consistently not wanted to deal with that. >> we're not talking about press conferences. we're talking about this issue. >> and i will be very consistent on this as well. >> the president has been consistent on this. >> i think governor romney has been very consistent on this as well. i think the consistency i'm talking about, akin's comments were reprehensible. mourdock's comments i can understand that from being pro-life. romney said, i don't agree with them and we need to move on.

>> here's the problem -- >> wait a minute, we're talking about defending the party platform right now. that's what romney is not doing. >> no, mourdock -- >> he's asked questions about it on the campaign trail and doesn't respond. >> ed, this is mourdock's comments do not represent the republican party. the republican platform. that is one individual -- >> they do. >> no, he's pro-life. >> okay. he's pro-life. but paul ryan has stated it doesn't matter what caused the conception. >> no. paul ryan and mitt romney have both said the same thing. >> keli? >> no, no, no. >> they believe there's an inception for rape and incest. >> no, no, no, what paul ryan said on video, which you can find in my column, a plug there, my link to that, he doesn't believe the method of conception, which how he describe rape, should dictate the outcome. he said i'm part of the romney platform. >> i've known paul ryan for 21 years. he's been very consistent

he's been very consistent as has governor romney, they believe in an exception for rape and incest. >> no, unless he's saying something privately to you than he's saying in public. >> this is small ball. this election is so big. >> can i say as a woman -- >> no, no, i'm not going to interrupt you. i was talking. this election is about the economy. this election is about how many folks are in poverty, how many folks are on food stamps. >> i don't deny that. this is the story that has evolved. >> if the democrats want to focus on contraception and abortion rather than the direction of this country, i think it's a mistake. >> ron, it's your candidate in indiana who has blown this story wide open nationally. actually forcing candidates to respond to it. do you stand with mourdock? >> no, absolutely not. >> i'm talking about the candidates. >> i'm not going to interrupt if you don't hog the mike. let me say this, as a woman, i take issue when i hear another man say it's small ball to talk about reproductive rights and reproductive women's health and access to those things. that's not small ball to me and not small ball to a lot of women watching this program and who are going to be voting.

>> you find, my friend, someone frying to deny a woman access to contraception, access to reproductive rights. >> you're saying mourdock isn't trying to -- >> we're talking about the presidential election. this is a senate candidate. we're talking about mitt romney. ed tried to tie it in to mitt romney. >> romney's not responding to it. that's the point. that's the whole point. he cut an ad endorsing the guy, ron. he's the only senate candidate mitt romney has gone out and endorsed on camera. >> he did, and mitt romney has also gone out and also issued a statement saying he doesn't agree with those comments. >> he's leaving the ad up to support him. that's how much he disagrees. >> keli goff, ron christie. there's a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." stay with us. consistently challenged the voting rights of legitimate voters. >> congressman elijah cummings says tea party activists at true the vote are planning to harass minority voters across the

country on election day. new reporting suggests they will target latinos. the congressman joins me next. another boss is threatening employees if they don't vote romney. the story from wisconsin is ahead. and the jobs being outsourced by sensata are just the tip of the iceberg in mitt romney's economy. i'll expand the map and make the case tonight. [ male announcer ] behold the joy, bliss and total delight that can only come from having someone else pay your mortgage for an entire year... this is what you'll experience if you win the quicken loans skip-a-year mortgage sweepstakes. up to five winners will get to skip a year of mortgage payments... courtesy of quicken loans. enter often at skipayear.com for more chances to experience...this... the skip-a-year mortgage sweepstakes. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze!

i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. no way. [ male announcer ] sorry. alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast-acting decongestant to relieve your stuffy nose. thanks. [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus. ♪ oh what a relief it is! [ male announcer ] try new alka-seltzer plus severe allergy to treat allergy symptoms plus sinus congestion and pain. welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. there are new concerns, a right wing group tied to the koch brothers is planning to intimidate brothers on election day. true the vote is a tea party vote monitoring organization based in texas. they are planning to station 1 million poll watchers across the country on election day. the group claims their mission is "to restore truth, faith and

integrity to our elections." but if you look at true the vote's history, their real goal is to harass minority voters and scare them out of voting. back in 2010, their dirty tricks caused the justice department too get involved. the group was accused of hovering over voters, getting into election workers' faces and blocking or disrupting lines of voters. true the vote's targeting of minorities is no secret. and this year they are going after latinos. the group recently announced a new voto honesto initiative. they claim it encourages hispanics to vote true the vote has been attempting to purge legitimate voters off voting rolls around the country. these voter suppression and intimidation tactics have maryland congressman elijah cummings outraged. he sent two letters demanding documents from the organization true the vote. in his most recent letter he asked for details on the group's election day poll watching plans. for more on this, let's turn to the congressman from maryland, elijah cummings, with us tonight, the ranking member on the house oversight and

government reform committee. congressman, good to have you with us tonight. >> it's good to be with you. >> i know you're passionate about this. you've written twice on it. what information do you want the true the vote people to bring forth before the election about what their plans are on election day? >> well, first of all, ed, i believe that voting is a right and that it is not just limited to a few selective people. any effort to block people from voting is clearly unpatriotic and just offensive. but here with regard to true to vote, we've got to -- we've asked them to tell us how are they targeting the voting places? in other words, where are they sending these people to? and what criteria are they using? what kind of history do they have of any kind of fraudulent activity? ed, i am thoroughly convinced this is an effort to intimidate voters and they know it and basically we have not been able to get any decent response from them yet. they said they were going to

cooperate with us, but suddenly they've gone on silent. >> how confrontational do you think these poll watchers are going to get? >> oh, i think it will become very confrontational. thankfully, in states like maryland, we've put together a cadre of lawyers and others to make sure that people are protected from these folks. and i, you know, the fact is, ed, that i think that they will do almost anything to stop people from voting. and it is extremely -- >> what do you mean anything? >> in other words, you know, what we found in maryland is we've had, particularly our senior citizens, they're going to the polls and people are harassing them. the other thing that true to vote does is they'll go up to the election officials, like right in the polling place, and begin to challenge various people and then what they do is

they hold up the line. and when they hold up the line, it's just usually already crowded. so on election day, it's crowded and people then turn away. and that's exactly what they want them to do. >> and they're not operating under any official capacity whatsoever. >> no. no. >> so what about people going to vote? do they need to be mentally prepared to run into these poll watchers? >> i think they need to be mentally prepared, ed, but i want them to know that all over the country various states have folks that are going to be out there to protect them and make sure they're okay. but people have to -- i don't want people to be fearful. as a matter of fact, most of the people i've talked to have told me the more they hear about all of these efforts of trying to stop them from voting, the more they want to vote. >> are they illegal activities, congressman? >> with regard to what true to

vote is doing? >> absolutely. >> no doubt about it. they claim that they're doing legal things, but the fact is, come on, ed, if you're standing around harassing people, people who want to go out and exercise their right, their very fundamental right of our democracy and then you're going to be bothering them? that's wrong. >> do you think these workers, these true the vote workers and their poll monitoring tactics, do you think they're being coordinated with the republican party? >> we have very strong evidence that, in fact, they are. and, again -- >> they are? the gop is behind this? >> i have no doubt about it. and keep in mind, the head of true to vote has already made it clear that she absolutely -- those are her words -- is about the business of making a change in the white house. >> okay. >> come on, now, if you're

really being transparent and trying to bring, you know, honesty to the election process, you're not one sided one way or the other. so clearly that's her intention. that's their intention. and we also have evidence that they put out a person who was a democrat who was trying to join them and they said, no, we don't want you. so we've seen quite a bit of evidence. hopefully they'll come clean. but i've got a feeling they're not going to come clean until after the election. >> all right. congressman elijah cummings. great to have you with us tonight on this very important story. coming up, yet another ceo tells his employees if president obama's re-elected there will be consequences. they call it education. i call it intimidation. stay tuned. [ male announcer ] do you have the legal protection you need? at legalzoom, we've created a better place to turn for your legal matters. maybe you want to incorporate a business you'd like to start.

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i hope you make it very clear to your employees what you believe is in the best interest of your enterprise and, therefore, their job and their future in the upcoming elections. and whether you agree with me or you agree with president obama or whatever your political view, i hope -- i hope you pass those along to your employees. nothing illegal about you talking to your employees about what you believe is best for the business. >> make it very clear. welcome back to "the ed show." obviously mitt romney talking back in june urging a group of businessowners to let employees know how their vote in november could affect their job. and in the countdown to election day, we've witnessed a number of ceos telling their employees to vote for mitt romney or suffer the consequences. let's add mike white to the list. he is the owner of a milwaukee manufacturing company called rite hite to the list. we'll add them to the list

tonight. in a letter obtained by the "milwaukee journal sentinel." white writes to his employees, "on top of the burden of having your personal taxes increase dramatically which they will, your rsp contributions and healthy retirement are also at risk." white, he also states that he would likely be forced to drop employees, the rite hite insurance for obama care due to the competitive need. or as he puts it, in this thinly veiled threat, "every opportunity to make up for lost profits to taxes will have to be evaluated." as the "milwaukee journal sentinel" points out the letter falls under a provision of state election laws which says "no employer of agent of any employer may distribute to any employee printed matter containing any threat, notice or information that if a particular ticket of a particular party or organization or candidate is elected, the salaries or wages of the employees will be reduced or other threats intended to influence the political opinions

or actions of the employees." these bully businessowners can continue to claim they're simply just educating their workers in the workforce, but let's call it what it is. intimidation. tonight in our survey i asked you, who do you trust when it comes to women's issues? 97% of you say president obama. 3% of you say mitt romney. coming up, the romney economy. mitt romney makes money while american workers lose their jobs. we'll show you what romney's policies are costing the country. that's next. it's a new day.

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i understand how the economy works. i spent my life working in the real economy. >> the real economy? thanks for staying with us tonight, folks. we need to focus big-time on this. american workers are learning what mitt romney means when he talks about his experience with the real economy. workers in freeport, illinois, where we did the show on friday night, they are suffering from mitt romney's economy firsthand. they're feeling it. now, we have been reporting on this show about the 170 sensata workers who are losing their jobs. romney's company, bain capital, controls sensata. bain's shutting down the plant and shipping the equipment and

jobs overseas. workers have, been fighting the plant closure. workers sent us this video. sensata told they could stay home if they felt threatened. they walked off the job in a show of solidarity. they call their town bainport. how appropriate? there are a lot of bainports all over the country. in fact, there are lots of towns and lots of workers who have been hit hard by romney's company and for what his vision for america is when it comes to the economy. mitt romney is an expert at closing companies and making a dollar. in fact, i would say he is a pioneer. let's take a look at the record. the "wall street journal" reviewed 77 of the businesses bain capital acquired while romney was in charge. 22% of them either went bankrupt, reorganized, or shut down.

but while those companies were dying, bain investors were living it up, making a dollar. bain made 50% to 80% of its profits in holdings each year. romney profited while, what, american workers took it and lost their jobs. now, it's not illegal. it's what happened. tonight on this program we want to show you some of the other freeports around the country. let's start with american padded paper or ampad. romney was in charge when bain acquired this company in 1992. by 1999, ampad, they were bankrupt. 385 employees were laid off. bain liquidated its interests and made, hmm, only $102 million. the former managing director of bain capital says romney was directly responsible for ampad's layoffs, but he knew where the money was, didn't he? mitt romney did the same thing to this company, gst steel. bain emerged, he went ahead and

put it together with another steel maker in south carolina. by 2001, gst steel was bankrupt. and another 750 americans were out of a job. bain made at least, let's see, $12 million on the acquisition and collected $900,000 a year in what they call consulting fees, when some guy calls you up, what do you think we ought to do? fire the workers, send the jobs to china and take the freaking money. are we starting to see a pattern here? bain acquired ddi while romney was in charge in 1997. the company made electronic circuit boards. filed for bankruptcy in 2003. some of the employees were offered transfers but at least 2,100 out the door. gone. now, to be fair, romney was not on the board of directors when ddi went under, but his company made about $36 million on that

deal. cambridge industries is also a good example of another company losing money while mitt romney was in charge. the model is no matter how poorly a company does, romney can still go in there with his boys and just make a ton of money and charge these massive consulting fees. bain acquired cambridge in 1995. it's an automotive plastics supplier. five years later cambridge, what did they do? they went bankrupt. there's no record of how many jobs were actually lost on this deal, but union leaders say it was at least 1,000. in the end, bain made just a slim $10 million on this deal in fees. in 1994, bain invested in a company which makes medical devices in miami. mitt romney shut the company down three years later. at least 1,000 workers lost their jobs. we're not sure how much money mitt romney made on the deal but we do know bain charged the usual multimillion dollar